In a variety of mechanical situations, there arises a need to transfer rotational control movements from a control valve to a control surface. This may be accomplished by attaching a control valve to an actuator arm so that the actuator arm provides rotational movement directed by the control valve. The actuator arm is then connected to a shaft which is positioned in a cylindrical guide in a housing. The shaft is further attached to a control surface, such as a flapper, so that rotation of the actuator arm rotationally moves the shaft and thus swings the control surface. The control surface may be positioned in a conduit so that movement of the control surface diverts or directs a fluid flow.
The assembly of the above parts (control valve, actuator arm, shaft, housing with cylinder guide, and flapper) can be intricate and time consuming. It would be desired to find a simplified manner of assembling at least some of the parts so as to avoid delay. Further, the attachment of a flapper to a shaft may involve welding or riveting. These operations are somewhat cumbersome and difficult to perform if a shaft is already positioned in a housing. Thus, it would be desired to perform that attachment, flapper to shaft, in a separate step prior to other assembly steps. In this manner a shaft with a flapper already attached to it would then be assembled with the remainder of the components.
A specific application of the above generally described assembly is found in aircraft. Aircraft and other transportation vehicles often include climate control and environmental control systems. One aspect of such systems is the ability to divert or control air flow between two or more positions. In an airplane cockpit, for example, there is frequently found a lounge valve system which controls air flow. In the lounge valve system, a series of valves directs air between the pilot's position and the co-pilot's position.
In prior art systems that employ the lounge valve arrangement, air from some environmental control unit such as an air conditioner or heater is directed to a general location, such as the cockpit of an airplane, through a single duct. In the cockpit area the single duct then splits into two (or more) branches in order to direct air to specific locations. A typical arrangement involves a Y junction in which air from the source is then directed to the pilot's location and to the co-pilot's location by separate ducts. Within each separate duct there is positioned a flow valve. Typically this valve is an in-line valve such that the valve is inserted into the duct by cutting the duct, placing the valve at the cut location, and then clamping each of the two severed ends of the duct to the valve. Each of the two (or more) valves is thus independently operated so as to close air flow or allow air flow from a partial to a full amount.
It would be desired to control air flow in a lounge valve system through a single valve rather than, as practiced in some designs, through multiple valves. This would achieve an advantage in weight savings, cost savings, and installation time. Moreover, it would be desired to be able to quickly and easily assemble the valve.
Hence there is a need for a general method to assemble components in a control valve system quickly and easily. Further, there is a need for an air control system that provides air flow control at a relatively reduced weight, that provides a cost savings over known methods, and that can be relatively easily installed. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs.